A typical liquid crystal display (LCD) is capable of displaying a clear and sharp image through millions of pixels that make up the complete image. Thus, the liquid crystal display has been applied to various electronic equipments in which messages or pictures need to be displayed, such as mobile phones and notebook computers. A liquid crystal panel is a major component of the LCD, and generally includes a TFT array substrate, a color filter substrate opposite to the TFT array substrate, and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the two substrates.
Referring to FIG. 17, part of a typical TFT array substrate 1 is shown. The TFT array substrate 1 includes a plurality of gate lines 13, a plurality of common lines 14, and a plurality of data lines 17. The gate lines 13 are parallel to and spaced from each other. The data lines 17 are parallel to and spaced from each other, and are substantially perpendicular to the gate lines 13. Two adjacent gate lines 13 and two adjacent data lines 17 cooperatively define a pixel region 100. The common lines 14 are parallel to the gate lines 13, and each of the common lines 14 crosses a row of pixel regions 100.
In each pixel region 100, a TFT 18, a pixel electrode 190, and a common electrode 120 are provided. The TFT 18 is arranged in the vicinity of a respective point of intersection of the gate lines 13 and the data lines 17. The TFT 180 includes a gate electrode 181, a source electrode 182, and a drain electrode 183.
The pixel and common electrodes 190, 120 are laminated and insulated in the pixel region 100. The pixel and common electrodes 190, 120 are made of transparent conductive materials such as indium-tin-oxide (ITO) or indium-zinc-oxide (IZO). The common electrode 120 is electrically connected to the common line 14 in order to obtain common voltage signals.
Referring to FIG. 18, this is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken along line XVIII-XVIII of FIG. 1. The TFT array substrate 10 further includes a substrate 11, a gate insulating layer 15, a semiconductor layer 107, and a passivation material layer 16. The gate line 13, the common line 14, the gate electrode 181, and the common electrode 120 are arranged on the substrate 11. The gate insulating layer 15 covers the common electrode 120, the gate line 13, the gate electrode 181, and the common line 14. The semiconductor layer 107 is formed on the gate insulating layer 15. The source electrode 182 and the drain electrode 183 are formed on the insulating layer 15 and the semiconductor layer 107 corresponding to the gate electrode 181. The passivation material layer 16 is formed on the gate insulating layer 15, the drain electrode 183 and the source electrode 182. The pixel electrode 190 is formed on the passivation material layer 16, and is electrically connected to the drain electrode 183 via the through hole 184 formed in the passivation material layer 16.
However, the data line 17 is prone to be damaged when the TFT array substrate 1 is being handled, transported, or cleaned. A broken gap 170 may occur when the corresponding data line 17 is damaged. Thus, the data line 17 is broken and unable to transfer data signals. This results in an impaired image in the pixel regions 100 corresponding to the broken data line 17.
What is needed, therefore, is a method for fabricating a TFT array substrate that can overcome the above-described deficiency. What is also needed is a TFT array substrate fabricated by the above method.